By Phil Wain
April 7 2005

John McGuinness got his 2005 British Superbike Championship campaign underway at Brands Hatch over the Easter weekend, and it proved to be a difficult start for John and his new AIM Racing squad. 16th and 14th places, and two points, were taken from the two races and although John was hoping for considerably more going into the meeting, he left feeling confident that he was heading in the right direction.

Whilst Saturday’s free practice was held in dry, sunny conditions the same couldn’t be said for Sunday when the two qualifying sessions took place. After ending free practice in 10th, hopes were high going into qualifying but whilst many of other riders took up to half a second off their times, McGuinness was unable to do so ending with a best time of 46.770secs, just under a second way from pole setter Leon Haslam. The end result was 15th place overall, good enough for a fourth row start.

Race day on Easter Monday again dawned misty but as the 30-lap race got underway at 1.15pm, the sun had found its way through the clouds. A good start was always going to be crucial if John was going to make it into the top ten but at the completion of the first lap he had slipped back into 18th. With overtaking difficult around the 1.22-mile circuit, it was a tall order to make any impression and try as he might, he couldn’t break through into the top 15, the lack of forward progression attributed to a serious lack of grip from the rear tyre.

With a different rear tyre in for the second race, John made a similar start to that of race one but this time the tyre held up and he was able to pick off a few riders to lodge himself inside the points in 15th. Try as he might he couldn’t find a way past Vivaldi Racing’s Ben Wilson although the pair edged closer and closer to the 6-man dice for 8th. With Jeremy McWilliams crashing out on the penultimate lap, John was elevated to 14th place, a position he held until the chequered flag, getting his first points of the season.

Speaking at the conclusion of the meeting John commented, “All in all, it’s been a tough weekend but I managed to salvage something with a couple of points in the second race. Obviously, I would have liked to have a lot more beside my name but it’s better than none. I was a bit tense during qualifying and probably didn’t get the best out of the qualifying tyres, rushing into a few corners and missing a few apexes which probably cost me a couple of tenths. With the nature of the Indy circuit, that could have put me three or four places further up the grid. Essentially, that’s cost me some good points this weekend as you need to be near the front of the grid here, otherwise you just get boxed in.”

“In the first race I had no grip at all in the rear tyre and I had no confidence in it. I gave it 110% throughout the race so it was very disappointing to put so much effort in and not score any points. The second race was a lot better though and there was only a small gap between myself and the likes of Jeremy and JR, who were dicing for 8th. Because we were all running at the same pace, everyone was holding station so there was no opportunity to climb any higher. In the last third of the race I was running the same lap times as the guys in 5th and 6th so it’s really emphasised the need to have a good grid position, you can’t afford to be a long way back as it’s just makes your life so much more difficult. There’s some excellent riders and machinery out there this year right the way through the field so it’s going to be tough all season.”

“We’re still short of a few bits and bobs for the bike and we’re probably a month behind where we would like to be. It’s a new team but everyone is working well and pulling together so I’m confident we’ll get further up the grid as the year goes on. There’s plenty more to come from the bike and we plan to make a few modifications before Thruxton, beginning with making the bike lighter. With its fast flowing corners, it should suit my style of riding a lot more, unlike the ‘scratching’ style needed here at Brands, which isn’t really me. One thing’s for sure, I’ll be giving it my all from the very first lap of practice and, hopefully, we’ll start to make an impression on the top ten.”

The British Superbike Championship remains in the south of England for round 2, which takes place at Thruxton, Hampshire on Sunday April 10th.